I am the essence of overconfidence! I am speculation, adventure; the spirit of pursuit; the stag howling for its winsome yet anonymous mate. I am the love call of evolution; the perfume and color of the flowers as they offer their pollen to the gentle buzz of the bees.
I am sex itself, gentlemen. I am life. I am appetite!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

On Mangoes and love for the Banganapalli

The English word Mango derives its name from the Portugese word Manga, which in-turn is derived from the Thamizh word Maangai. I am an unabashed Mango fan. Probably in the 60th percentile among mango fans. During my travels this May to various parts of India, I 'accidentally' happened to eat a lot of mangoes that were locally popular. I hereby declare that Banganapalli is the king of all mangoes. Not Alphonso as these businessmen and exporters would have the foreigners believe.

Langra is a mango from West Bengal is another popular variety that unfortunately I never tasted. Although I spent significant amount of time in U.P, I missed the most popular mango of that region. I am not sure if Kesar is a mutant of Langra, if it is so then I am sorry to say Kesarsucks. First of all a mango needs to be really yellow. Not sort of yellow. Remember that Indian mangoes gave rise to the color pigment Indian yellow ( The pigment was taken from the urine of cows, which ate these mangoes). A mango that is not as yellow as Banganapalli is not a mango. Secondly, it has got to be sweet and juicy. Kesar is needs to be at least 20X more seet to come within scratching range of the Banganapalli.

The Maharashtrians gave the world Alphonso. And quickly termed it King of Mangoes. A non-yellow, non-juicy, almost salty-tasting mango is a king? No way. I agree it comes a close second to Banganapalli. A court minister, a jester? Maybe. But a king? Never. (Apple) Rumani, an apple-like mango, is another thin-skinned mango that struts itself as if it is the hottest thing in the world after Shreya. It is not. Mainly because its not juicy enough. Furthermore, Apple-like is un-mango like. Moving down south - songs have been penned on the Salem Mango. ThamizhNaadu gave Mulgoa, which is the probably the worst Mango I have ever eaten. Salem is better off doing something else instead of Mango cultivation. The shape, the taste and the juicyness is the most un-mango-like that I have ever seen. The only thing TN can claim glory to is providing or majorly participating in the concept of 'Maavadu'. Pickles made out of budding mangoes.

While on the subject of Mangoes - Raw unripe (really) unripe mangoes also have to be given their due credit. Especially if it is in a form similar to the ones sold in Marina beach. You take a unripe mango cut it along the plane,which would result in many half-ovals. Cut the flesh part of the mango that gives them a teeth-shaped structure. And then add spice to it. This is the ultimate form that unripe mangoes can present itself for human consumption. Some people take home-made mangoes, a step further. Cut the mangoes in very Small pieces, add kothamalli, chillies and other spices to them (sambar/rasampodi). Voila! you have a pickle-substitute. Ruchi and Priya pickles provide a manga-thokku, which is also hard to match in terms of Mango pickles.

Andhra is known for Mango-based pickles. It is unfortunate that the pickles turned out to be a distraction from their main contribution to the world. The sole purpose for which AndhraPradesh was created. AndhraPradesh makes, what the Vedas really call the Mangoes - food for gods. Banganapalli. You can get it from boulder size fruits to mountain size fruits. Unimaginably yellow. Juice flows like water flows in Niagara. Banganapalli is the Anna Nicole-Smith of mangoes. Think of every voluptuous lady from Ursula Andress, Cameron Diaz, Anna Kournikova, to J'lo - all rolled into one fruit. The delicate shape, the voluptuousness and juicyness that Banganapalli generates is incomparable. You tear out the skin with your teeth and juices start flowing down. Can something be more sweet? No. Eating a Banganapalli is a thundering orgasm in itself. A drop of its juice and your blood sugar level soars up to 400. Now that is a mango. May and June should be renamed Banganapalli-1 and Banganapalli-2. When June ends and the rain gods pour themselves on the earth - the love fest with Banganapalli ends. Until then it is the duty of every citizen to buy it - even if 1 gigantic fruit costs 15 Rs and you know that the mango-vendor lady in G.N.Chetty road is ripping you off. Because there is a mama from Mandavali standing next to you, who is willing to pay that, put all the mangoes into his plastic cover and drive back in his Kinetic Honda.

P.S: Coming from a family, which has a maniacal obsession to mangoes and conducts annual tournaments on - who eats the maximum mangoes, who finishes of with the whitest shell etc - It is natural for me to think of mangoes 2x more than a pregnant woman with masakkai.

Boss, as an aside, Ruchi vs Priya, Ruchi wins hands down when it comes to thokku! Priya seems to be catered to the pan-indian diaspora, while Ruchi owns the niche that is the Tamil tongue.

Last year, I used to polish of one bottle of Priya each week. But that was before the January trip to India, when I had the chance to taste Ruchi after years. Priya had a local monopoly here and so I imported 5 bottles of the same into the continental United States.

Then the day after I landed, I went to the store to stock up on milk etc. and the found one section full of Ruchi. So Priya has been abandoned!

And Maharashtra might be home for the King of Mangoes. But we know Banganapalli is the Emperor ;)

Hawkeye,Nice post. Like you, I was pro-banganapalli and anti-Alphonso. The hubby and I have had numerous arguements on which one is the best. I hate to admit it, but the alphonso mangoes are pretty good too. I tasted them for the first time during my visit to India this summer. Every time I enjoyed one, I would get the 'I told you' look from the hubby. Ofcourse, the banganapalli is still my first love as I grew up in the land of the banganapallis.

I agree with you for almost everything but the salem mangoes, your tongue has been exposed to the worst of the brethren. They aren't on par with Emperor Banganapalli, but is very much his Commander in Chief. Also, you missed himampasam, an able foot soldier who has risen the ranks and is now Colonel, he will serve you well during the time of your greatest needs.

so my hubby is from bbay and i from chennai...and we constantly fight...he claims that alphonso is the best and I know for sure that nothing can beat the good ol' banganapalli...but the fight continues because i have had alphonso and he not so much of B'palli...so when he does maybe he will change his mind...

i love mangoes in all forms though and your article made me think of all those fun pickles we used to make at home and mangoes we wud eat during summer...aahhhh

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Hawkeye somehow managed to get educated, switch careers from engineering to business and secure gainful employment. He got employed because he failed to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming a house husband. He does not believe in luck but thinks he is the most unluckiest man in the world (read disclaimer). Such self-contradictory thoughts continue to separate the author from reality. He claims he can 'do humor' because he cant be taken seriously.Hawkeye is a nomad, a wanderer who has studied in more schools and lived in more places than he cares to remember. He has travelled to many many states within India and has seen almost all the important vacation spots. He constantly tries to bring in "I went to switzerland for my honeymoon" in unrelated conversations (like this one) and hopes to visit all the other countries in Europe. Loves to visit and learn historical information about Indian Temples. He is ramping up on the ancient metaphysical philosphy called Vishishta-Advaitha ( Qualified Non-Dualism) and loves to talk about it with anybody who claims to be an expert.